Their speed increased, and the route they were taking was a dangerous area. This was to avoid encountering any zones or people on the road.

Ayen knew it was far from the forbidden zone, but he did not know it would take ten days to arrive. The surrounding areas were filled with ruins, and so he was not sure if they were already near or not.

Soon, they stopped at an empty field. As far as his eyes could see, there were only ruins. The walls were charred black, and if one could scrutinize carefully, the whole city was burned down.

Ayen was confused. Was this the place? Or were they only camping here?

"It was a red zone," Khal’s voice rang, capturing Ayen’s attention. His eyes glanced at the area for a moment before he turned to Ayen. "This was my hometown."

The red zone that held both Khal’s cherished and tormenting childhood memories.

Ayen’s eyes flashed, stunned. He had not expected this, and emotions quickly welled up in his gaze. Slowly, he nodded. He did not know what to say, but surely Khal had a reason for bringing him there.

Devion remained silent beside Ayen, letting Khal take the center stage.

"Also, my group’s headquarters."

Ayen slightly tilted his head as he heard that, his eyes snapping to the city once again. His mind processed what Khal had said.

"This is your headquarters?"

Both Khal and Devion smiled at his confusion. In fact, Devion was as clueless as he was before.

It was fine that Khal used his hometown as the headquarters, but... The place was dilapidated. Why did he not renovate or put a building here at least?

Those were probably the questions that were on Ayen’s mind.

And they were right. Ayen was confused and unable to tell if he should raise this question or maintain his silence.

Khal did not let him be confused for long, and he instructed Liz to move. Perhaps she knew her master’s feelings; she only moved slowly.

Ayen maintained his silence, wanting to know what Khal and Devion were up to. He was waiting for something to happen... And sure enough.

His eyes focused on the state of the city. As they moved closer, the place was completely unraveled in front of them.

As though it were merely an illusion and the real form had finally appeared before him. Gone was the ruined city, and it was replaced by a somewhat lively scene.

His eyes swept around, and he couldn’t be more familiar with this scene; he had witnessed it a couple of times. Their faces were filled with life even when only doing simple and mundane tasks.

"This is the headquarters," he repeated again. Without him asking questions, Khal explained to him with a smile.

"The outward appearance was the barrier separating this city from the outside world."

It was not quite like Aegi’s town, as it was still present in the real world, but the barrier only made it so the real situation inside would not be revealed to anyone other than those with permission.

Khal looked at the city, and though it was different from his memory, he often felt the tightened muscles in his chest relaxing.

He came home again.

Liz was a massive lizard, and she quickly captured the attention of the crowd. However, no one panicked, not to mention there was a barrier surrounding the city... that lizard was so familiar to the residents of this city.

Unlike the first couple of cities Ayen encountered with the same atmosphere, the residents here were heavily involved in Khal’s group and were even the families of the members themselves.

The moment they saw Liz, their eyes lit up and they completely bowed in their direction. They quickly recognized it then and knew that the leader was back.

Ayen watched the lively scene become livelier and the others running towards somewhere.

"Heh. They sure are so lovely." Ayen did not know if Devion’s tone was a compliment or an insult.

Khal merely waved at them before he directed Liz again towards the high-rise buildings at the center of the city.

Ayen’s eyes roamed around the city as they moved, the two not disturbing him. Although the city itself could not compare to the capital in terms of prosperity, when one remembered that this place was a red zone... Ayen could not help but be amazed.

Just how did Khal manage to establish this city in this perilous zone?

"You’re shocked, aren’t you?" Devion whispered with a smirk on his lips. His eyes glanced at Khal and pointed at him. "This guy also surprised me about this place."

Ayen turned to him; Khal only curled his lips. He remembered that scene.

Unlike with Ayen, he let Devion run ahead of him, and he entered the city on his own. The shock on his face then was so hilarious. Only that, he had to apologize countless times for a whole week.

After all, a lot of people saw Devion’s expression then.

"I visited this place before it became... like this. Then, the second time, there was already that barrier, and I entered without knowing. I thought I’d encountered a mana disturbance and prepared to fight."

Khal suppressed the laughter in his throat as Devion glared at him.

"This little shit pranked me about this, too. But unlike now, the city isn’t that big and only has one huge building at the center." He paused and looked around; there was a satisfaction in his face. "It truly has become a city."

Ayen turned to Khal, who was putting on a calm front, but he noticed the gleam in his eyes. So, he was relishing the compliments. Once in a while, Khal had this side too.

He nodded. "It really is impressive." Ayen noticed Khal’s lips hooked up at that.

Ayen’s eyes crinkled seeing that; the corner of his lips rose. While he said that to see Khal’s reaction, he did not lie. He was extremely impressed, even.

Every time, the two of them never failed to surprise him.

Liz stopped in front of the center building and plopped on the ground. Devion hissed at it. "You only ate a feast, you lazy lizard."

Liz also let out a hiss as if complaining, her tail wagging slowly.

Ayen did not even bother to intervene, as the two of them always bicker. Officially, Devion was Liz’s contracted beast, but she was Khal’s pet and only listened to Khal most of the time.

"Later, Liz." Khal’s voice immediately made her head drop and stopped her wagging her tail, becoming behaved once more.

Devion only shook his head and stopped arguing with it.

The fuss ended as it quickly started. The three of them landed on the ground, and Ayen saw people gathering to receive them. His eyes landed on the person in front.

He was not familiar with everyone present, except that person. His eyes narrowed slightly. When he was studying in the Adrift Organization, Ayen had also researched the S-class Guides.

There were fewer S-class Guides than S-class espers, and so they were valued highly by the government. They also received considerable prestige for both clan and government espers.

They were not as famous as Espers, but a few were recognized by the world. One such person was now standing in front of him. Although his appearance had considerably aged from the last time he saw him in the pictures.

Mikhael. A retired S-class guide, famous for also being an Institute’s great researcher. He retired a few years ago. Who would have thought he was now in this place?

"You’re back, leader." The man himself bowed slightly at them, and so did the others.

As always, they did not deeply bow or kneel, and their overall demeanors did not appear submissive but more respectful.

Ayen observed him, and his white hair, though already past sixty, Mikhael still appeared strong and younger than his age. Well, awakened individuals aged more slowly than the average person, especially if they were S-class.

Khal nodded at them. "We’ll check the captured individuals, so prepare them. And also, Mikhael, we’ll discuss something later. Ready the conference room."

Khal quickly went to the point, and everyone seemed accustomed to his way of doing things and quickly affirmed. Some glanced in their direction but averted their gaze.

After finishing what he said. Khal looked at the two beside him before shifting again to the crowd.

"We’ll be staying here for a few months. Prepare our place as soon as possible. You all know who Devion is now," Khal went and wrapped his arm around Ayen’s waist to introduce him. "This is Ayen, our Guide. Treat him as you all treat Devion and me."

Meaning the highest treatment possible.

Ayen bit his lower lip and felt his cheeks heat up. For some reason, being introduced like this... was embarrassing. Yet, his heart was filled with appreciation and gratitude.

There was not much surprise in their gaze, but Ayen noticed the clear joy in their pupils. He quickly realized the reason.

Devion and Khal did not have a Guide, and these people knew that too. And now that someone was capable of guiding them, everyone could not help but be excited and cheered inwardly.

Mikhael smiled, his eyes almost disappearing. He nodded to Khal.

"Rest assured, Leader. Everyone will not be disrespectful to Mr. Ayen." Mikhael met Ayen’s gaze and nodded with a smile.

Devion was pleased, and so was Khal. Ayen was... content. This feeling of being recognized was not bad at all. If anything, it tickled something in his heart.

To think, he did not want to let the world know his connection with Khal and Dveion before?